Re: Hydrangea

I have two who were given to me on Mother's Day several years ago and are
not going to be hardy for me as they are the more tender varieties of H.
macrophylla used for forcing for the florist trade.  They have lived in
pots for, hmmm...think about 5 or 6 years quite happily (if I remember to
water them every day).

Mine are in my own potting soil mix, but I see no reason why a bagged
potting soil wouldn't work for them.   You'd need to add Ozmacote or have a
regular fertilizing schedule with the bagged medium, since it is mostly
peat and other than the bit of fertilizer they often add, has no nutrients.

Mine live on our covered walk in summer - no overhead sun at all as it has
a roof, but bright light - seem quite fine with that.  I winter them in my
cold greenhouse, bringing them in after frosts put them into dormancy.

Wintering is going to be the tricky part, if yours is a very tender type.
If you have a hardy one, it's not so difficult as they should be bud hardy.
 You need to let them go dormant and stay dormant for at least a couple of
months - all winter is fine.  If hardy, you can protect the pot in a number
of ways...wrapping it in bubble wrap; piling leaves over it; digging it
into a mulch or woodchip pile; making a temporary plunge bed for it and
burying the pot in sand or mulch up to the rim, among some of them...key is
you don't want the roots to freeze, which they would not do if in the
ground, but would do if in an unprotected pot.

If yours is too tender to be bud hardy outside for winter, you will need to
let it go dormant and then keep it in the coolest place you can find inside
- preferably where temperatures remain between freezing and 40 F....above
freezing, tho'.   While dormant, they don't need a lot of light, so a
basement or garage would do.  But, if the temperatures are 40 or above,
they will want to start breaking dormancy in February - when it's still too
cold to put them outside.  If this happens, you can probably get away with
a cool room and sunny or bright window - they will need very good light,
tho' not full sun, once they break dormancy.  You'll need to try to keep
the room atmosphere moist enough so they don't come down with a case of
spider mite, scale or whitefly, which can happen in regular desert like
house conditions.

If wintered indoors, keep the soil just moist - you don't want it soggy and
you don't want them to dry out completely.  There will be little root
activity, so soggy soil can rot roots....but, if temps are above 40F, root
activity will still be going on.  If wintered outdoors, put the pots in a
sheltered place, but where they can get rained and snowed on so they don't
dry out.  If you have long periods in winter when it's dry, you might need
to water them, so be able to check on them.

If wintered inside, they will need to be hardened off like any plant before
putting them outside for the summer again.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
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----------
> From: Rhonda Potts <pottsey@VISTO.COM>
> Date: Monday, September 13, 1999 4:32 PM
>
> Does anyone have any experience with hydrangeas in containers?  Can I use
regular potting soil?  What type of container?  What type of sun exposure?
Should they be kept outdoors or in?
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